Iran lifts ban on American wrestling team

TEHRAN, Iran – Iranian media are saying the country has lifted a ban on U.S. wrestlers, allowing them to take part in the Freestyle World Cup later this month in the Iranian city of Kermanshah.

The Sunday report by the semi-official Fars news agency quotes Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi as saying that the ban was lifted after the "discriminative restrictions" on Iranian nationals travelling to the U.S. was suspended by a U.S. federal judge.

The wrestlers were originally banned from the Feb. 16-17 competition after President Donald Trump temporarily suspended travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran.

The Trump administration is now appealing to reinstate the travel ban. On Sunday a judge in San Francisco rejected the government's request for an immediate reinstatement. Formal arguments in the case begin on Monday.